Earlier this month, Formula One moved quickly to salvage its season-opening Australian Grand Prix, arranging charter flights to get hundreds of stranded staff to Melbourne after airspace closures across the Middle East threw travel plans into chaos.
Two chartered aircraft left London on the Monday night before race weekend. One was a British Airways flight that stopped in Singapore, and the other was a business-class-only Air X plane routed via Tanzania. Between the two of them, they carried staff from 10 of the 11 teams plus F1 officials. The whole operation was coordinated by the sports travel agency Travel Places, according to ESPN. The affected personnel landed in Melbourne on Wednesday morning, about 48 hours before the first practice session at Albert Park.
Around 2,000 people work at every F1 race, and it’s thought that at least a quarter had been booked on routes through Middle East hubs like Doha and Dubai. One leading UK-based team said more than half its travelling staff were affected. People had been scrambling through China, Thailand, Korea, Japan, the US, Singapore and Hong Kong to piece together alternative routes south.
The sport doesn’t get much of a breather after Melbourne, either. It moved straight to Shanghai the following week for the Chinese Grand Prix, then to Japan for the upcoming race on March 29, before two Middle East rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were supposed to take place on April 12 and April 19.
However, both the 2026 Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Formula 1 races were cancelled due to safety concerns and regional conflicts. Formula 1 and the FIA officially called off the two events, one at the Bahrain International Circuit and the other at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
2026 Formula 1 Schedule
| Grand Prix | Location | Race Weekend Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Grand Prix | Melbourne, Australia | March 6–8, 2026 |
| 2 | Chinese Grand Prix | Shanghai, China | March 13–15, 2026 |
| 3 | Japanese Grand Prix | Suzuka, Japan | March 27–29, 2026 |
| 4 | Miami Grand Prix | Miami, United States | May 1–3, 2026 |
| 5 | Canadian Grand Prix | Montreal, Canada | May 22–24, 2026 |
| 6 | Monaco Grand Prix | Monte Carlo, Monaco | June 5–7, 2026 |
| 7 | Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix | Barcelona, Spain | June 12–14, 2026 |
| 8 | Austrian Grand Prix | Spielberg, Austria | June 26–28, 2026 |
| 9 | British Grand Prix | Silverstone, United Kingdom | July 3–5, 2026 |
| 10 | Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium | July 17–19, 2026 |
| 11 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Budapest, Hungary | July 24–26, 2026 |
| 12 | Dutch Grand Prix | Zandvoort, Netherlands | August 21–23, 2026 |
| 13 | Italian Grand Prix | Monza, Italy | September 4–6, 2026 |
| 14 | Spanish Grand Prix | Madrid, Spain | September 11–13, 2026 |
| 15 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Baku, Azerbaijan | September 24–26, 2026 |
| 16 | Singapore Grand Prix | Singapore | October 9–11, 2026 |
| 17 | United States Grand Prix | Austin, United States | October 23–25, 2026 |
| 18 | Mexico City Grand Prix | Mexico City, Mexico | October 30 – November 1, 2026 |
| 19 | São Paulo Grand Prix | São Paulo, Brazil | November 6–8, 2026 |
| 20 | Las Vegas Grand Prix | Las Vegas, United States | November 20–22, 2026 |
| 21 | Qatar Grand Prix | Lusail, Qatar | November 27–29, 2026 |
| 22 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | December 4–6, 2026 |
